News and Updates

Congratulations to the developers featured in the App Store Best of 2016. This showcase honors the year’s most innovative apps and games on the App Store, and celebrates the amazing app experiences that developers have created for Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. See all the featured apps.

The busiest season on the App Store is almost here. Make sure your apps are up-to-date and ready for the winter holidays. New apps and app updates will not be accepted December 23 to 27 (Pacific Time), so any releases should be submitted, approved, and scheduled in advance. Other iTunes Connect and developer account features will remain available.

As part of Computer Science Education Week, Apple will help inspire the next generation of developers with free Hour of Code workshops at your local Apple Store from December 5 to 11. Each workshop is a one-hour introduction to the basics of computer programming. To sign up for a workshop or learn how to host your own Hour of Code event, see the Apple Store website.

Make it easier for customers to view your tvOS apps on the App Store for iPhone and iPad, and on the iTunes Store on Mac and PC with a direct link your app’s product page. Customers who have enabled their Apple TV to automatically install apps can download your app straight to Apple TV from their iOS device or computer. Simply get the link from iTunes Link Maker and use it when promoting your app.

The Volume Purchase Program is now available in Austria, Brazil, Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Poland, Portugal, and South Africa, making it easier for businesses and educational institutions in these countries to discover, purchase, and distribute your iOS apps and Mac apps in volume. Learn more.

Give press and influencers early access to your app’s in-app purchases with promo codes from iTunes Connect. You can give away up to 100 promo codes for each in-app purchase item, up to a maximum of 1,000 codes per app.

Search Ads is an efficient and easy way to promote your app on the App Store for iPhone and iPad in the U.S., helping customers discover it at the very moment they are searching for apps to download. Designed to give users a safe search experience, Search Ads sets a new standard for delivering relevant ads while respecting user privacy.

Ads go live on the App Store on October 5. For a limited time, eligible developers can receive a $100 credit toward their first campaign when they sign up for Search Ads.

Images of iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and Apple Watch Series 2 are now available for you to use in marketing materials for your apps on the App Store. You can also get guidance on marketing and messaging iMessage apps, as well as showing your app’s screen content within Apple products such as Siri and Maps. Download the images and read the updated information in the App Store Marketing Guidelines.

You can now take advantage of a simpler method of authentication by using tokens instead of certificates when sending push notifications. A token is easy to generate, doesn’t expire, and can be used to send notifications to all of your apps. Learn more about push notifications.

At WWDC16 we demonstrated controlling a Sphero SPRK+ robot on stage, driven by the Swift Playgrounds app on iPad. The playground has been updated for the latest release of Swift Playgrounds on the App Store. Visit the Swift blog to download the file and run it on your iPad to see how it works, and learn to write code that lets you control the robot in additional ways.

You can now get more data about your auto-renewable subscriptions in iTunes Connect. The new Subscriptions page in Sales and Trends makes it easy to view key metrics and two new reports provide details into subscriber activity. Learn more.

You can now submit your apps that take advantage of exciting new features available in the next release of macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS. And with the new App Store for iMessage, users will be able to download your iMessage apps and sticker packs directly within Messages.

Build your apps using Xcode 8 GM seed, test with the GM seeds of macOS Sierra, iOS 10, watchOS 3, tvOS 10, and submit them for review. To learn more about preparing your submissions for the App Store, see Submitting Your Apps.

The App Store Review Guidelines have been updated to include information on subscriptions, SiriKit, and iMessage. As you plan and develop your apps for the upcoming releases of iOS 10, macOS Sierra, watchOS, and tvOS, make sure to read these updated guidelines.

We love helping customers discover innovative, useful, and exciting apps on the App Store. With more than 2 million apps available and around 100,000 new and updated apps submitted each week, there’s something for everyone. To make it easier for customers to find great apps that fit their needs, we’re implementing two suggestions from the developer community starting September 7, 2016.

Create Safari Extensions that give users access to your app’s best features as they browse the web. Xcode makes it simple to add Safari Extensions to your existing app by using an App Extensions template. Easily develop your extensions using powerful, native APIs and web technologies. And coming this fall with macOS Sierra, you can sell and distribute apps with Safari Extensions on the Mac App Store. Learn more about Safari Extensions.

Take advantage of the new Messages framework in iOS 10 to create an app extension that lets people interact with your iOS app directly within Messages. Users can easily create and share content, add stickers, make payments, and more, without leaving their conversations. And coming this fall, you can make iMessage apps available for download directly on the App Store for iMessage. Learn more about iMessage apps.

Now it’s easier than ever to deliver your screenshots and app preview using iTunes Connect. Submit just one set of screenshots and one optional app preview per device family, and they will be used across device sizes and localizations.

If your app’s UI or behavior changes based on device size, or if you would like to include localized screenshots, you can use the new Media Manager to add custom screenshots. Learn more by watching What's New in iTunes Connect from WWDC16.

You can now support Apple Pay for your customers in France and Hong Kong, providing an easy and secure way for them to pay for physical goods and services within your app with a single touch. Learn more about Apple Pay.

Take advantage of transcripts to quickly discover and share information presented in WWDC16 videos. You can search by keyword, see all instances where the keyword is mentioned in the video, go straight to the time it was mentioned, and even share a link to that specific time. Watch session videos.

You can now support Apple Pay for your customers in Switzerland, providing an easy and secure way for them to pay for physical goods and services within your app with a single touch. Learn more about Apple Pay.

We’ve added new features and resources to help you test, optimize, and analyze your apps.

TestFlight UpdatesTestFlight now supports apps built for the new beta of iOS, watchOS, and tvOS, which means that you can get feedback from testers on features like SiriKit, Push Notifications for tvOS, new iOS Extension APIs, and more. Read the TestFlight release notes.

App Store OptimizationSearch queries account for over 65% of downloads from the App Store. Learn how you can impact where your app ranks in search results to help users more easily find your app. Read Optimizing for App Store Search.

App Analytics ImpressionsApp Analytics now has data on App Store Impressions, which means you can see how many times your app’s icon has been viewed on the App Store in search results, Featured, Top Charts, and your App Store product page. With App Store Impressions, you can calculate how often users download your app after viewing it anywhere on the App Store. Learn more about App Analytics.

We’ve rewritten the App Review Guidelines to be more helpful, provide more context, and incorporate the guidelines for Mac apps. We hope these updates will help your app sail through App Review. While the guidelines themselves haven’t changed, the previous App Store and Mac App Store Review Guidelines will remain available for apps currently in the review process. View the new App Store Review Guidelines.

The new beta of Xcode 8 is now available, and includes Swift 3 and SDKs that you can use to build apps for the next version of macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS. Learn about new innovations in Apple platforms and how you can take advantage of them in your apps. Download the new betas.

See the latest advancements in macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS with over 100 sessions presented by Apple engineers at this year’s conference. We’re live streaming all sessions daily and posting videos and related sample code throughout the week. Watch WWDC session videos.

We’re introducing exciting new capabilities and tools designed to help grow your app’s business and engage with new and existing customers on the App Store.

Search AdsSearch Ads is an efficient and easy way for you to promote your app directly within the U.S. App Store search results, helping customers discover or reengage with your app while respecting their privacy. Starting this summer, you’ll be able to participate in the Search Ads beta and see the ads in action. Learn more about Search Ads.

Subscription EnhancementsWe’re opening auto-renewable subscriptions to all app categories including games, increasing developer revenue for eligible subscriptions after one year, providing greater pricing flexibility, and more. Learn about what’s new in subscriptions.

Apple’s developer community will come together at WWDC16 in San Francisco to see the future of Apple platforms and connect with thousands of developers from all around the world. In addition to the activities planned for conference attendees, a variety of other exciting developer events will take place throughout the week in San Francisco. If you’re attending the conference or will be in the area during WWDC, learn about these other developer events.

Provide controls for Apple Music within your app. iOS 9.3 now supports playback of any song for Apple Music members. To learn more about the new features, guidelines, and affiliate program, see Apple Music Best Practices for App Developers.

At WWDC 2015 we announced the transition to IPv6-only network services in iOS 9. Starting June 1, 2016 all apps submitted to the App Store must support IPv6-only networking. Most apps will not require any changes because IPv6 is already supported by NSURLSession and CFNetwork APIs.

If your app uses IPv4-specific APIs or hard-coded IP addresses, you will need to make some changes. Learn how to ensure compatibility by reading Supporting IPv6 DNS64/NAT64 Networks

You can use the CareKit framework to develop apps that help people better understand and manage their health by creating dynamic care plans, tracking symptoms, connecting to care teams, and more. CareKit is open source so, in addition to creating great personal care apps, you can collaborate with other developers and the medical community to make CareKit even better. To download a sample app and learn more, visit CareKit.org.

You can now support Apple Pay for your customers in Singapore, providing an easy and secure way for them to pay using American Express. Apple Pay lets users buy physical goods and services within your app with a single touch. Learn more about Apple Pay.

The Apple Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off June 13 in San Francisco. WWDC features more than 100 technical sessions, over 1,000 Apple engineers, hands-on labs, and the Apple Design Awards. Register now for an opportunity to join Apple’s renowned developer community at this year’s conference. Students and STEM organization members can also apply for a WWDC Scholarship to attend. Learn more about WWDC.

Take advantage of new articles and videos designed to help you grow your business on the App Store and engage users worldwide. See how developers approach finding success on Apple platforms and what they’ve learned along the way. Learn more.

You can now access Resolution Center from your iPhone or iPad to review and respond to your active threads, and easily forward threads to other members of your team. You can also opt in to receive a push notification whenever App Review sends you a new message. Visit the App Store for the latest update.

The latest versions of iOS, OS X, watchOS, and tvOS are now available to hundreds of millions of customers around the world. Submit your apps built with Xcode 7.3, which is available for download on the Mac App Store and includes the most recent SDKs. For downloads and details on guidelines, testing, and submitting, visit Prepare your apps for the App Store.

You can now opt in to receive a weekly App Analytics summary email for your most frequently downloaded apps. It will include data on App Store views, App Units, Sales, Sessions, and Crashes. To receive the App Analytics summary email, opt in by visiting the Notifications section of Users and Roles in iTunes Connect.

In addition to testing your apps on GM versions of software, you can also use TestFlight for internal and external testing of your apps running on beta 3 or beta 4 of iOS 9.3 and watchOS 2.2. Internal testing of tvOS 9.2 beta 3 or beta 4 is also supported. Learn more about TestFlight beta testing.

Over the past few months, developers around the world learned how to design and develop apps and games for Apple TV directly from Apple experts. Now you can share in the experience by watching all the session videos from the Apple TV Tech Talks. Watch the session videos.

You can now support Apple Pay for your customers in China, providing an easy, secure, and private way for them to pay using their China UnionPay credit and debit cards. Apple Pay lets users buy physical goods and services within your app without having to enter payment or contact information. Learn more.

Showcase your tvOS app in action by bringing its features and functionality alive with a short video on the App Store for Apple TV. By providing an app preview, you can help customers better understand your app and encourage more downloads. Learn more about app previews.

Starting February 14, the renewed Apple Worldwide Developer Relations Intermediate certificate must be included when signing all new Apple Wallet Passes, push packages for Safari Push Notifications, and Safari Extensions. While most developers and users will not be affected by the certificate change, we recommend that all developers download and install the renewed certificate on their development systems and servers as a best practice. Learn more.

In addition to providing a web interface for users to access the same data as your app, you can now easily read and write to the CloudKit public database from a server-side process or script with a server-to-server key. Learn more about generating a server-to-server key and composing web service requests.

Lower price tiers, Alternate Tier A and Alternate Tier B, now let you offer paid apps and In-App Purchases at $0.99 (CAD) and $0.99 (NZD). Existing apps that already use these price tiers have been automatically updated. Get details on App Store pricing in the Pricing and Availability section of My Apps on iTunes Connect.

The iAd App Network will be discontinued as of June 30, 2016. Although we are no longer accepting new apps into the network, advertising campaigns may continue to run and you can still earn advertising revenue until June 30. If you’d like to continue promoting your apps through iAd until then, you can create a campaign using iAd Workbench. We will continue to keep you updated, but if you have any questions, contact us.

You can now measure user engagement and monetization for your tvOS apps in App Analytics. In addition to seeing data on product page views, downloads, and engagement, you can also see how many iOS users acquired with your marketing campaigns opened the same app on Apple TV. Learn more about App Analytics.

iTunes Connect now provides more visibility into the various file sizes of your app. In addition to viewing the size of your original binary, you can now see the download size and install size for Apple TV, for each iOS device type running iOS 9, and for the universal version of your app. Get started in the Activity tab of My Apps in iTunes Connect or learn more in the iTunes Connect Developer Guide.

At WWDC 2015 we announced a new HTTP/2 based provider API and simplified certificate management process for developers using the Apple Push Notification service. You can now take advantage of this new provider API and create a single SSL certificate for each of your iOS apps, allowing you to connect to both APNs environments. To learn more, read the Local and Remote Notification Programming Guide and watch What’s New in Notifications.